Thank You

Error.

An error has occurred and your email has not been sent.
Please try again.

June 1, 2013

Better Buildings

To the Editor: I enjoyed your article about Leon Cooperman ("Cues From Cooperman," Penta, May 20) and some of his kind words for equities. His actions in philanthropy and the stock market speak for themselves. His stock picks represent some of the better buildings in a bad neighborhood. May he continue to enlighten the investment world and brighten each day with his philanthropy. Mark Zashin Short Hills, N.J.

Lost Generation

To the Editor: I found Jim McTague's comments on Millennials to be offensive. No doubt this is a generation that has skipped church, medicated themselves with Prozac and become video zombies. But to suggest that they are too stupid or prejudiced to understand the corruption that will bankrupt their inheritance is unfair. They are kicking the can down the road and hoping the Democrats will forgive them their student loans, since they will not have jobs. John Morrison Bradenton, Fla.

Bond Alternative

To the Editor: I read with interest Michael Aneiro's May 13 Current Yield column, "Abandoning Ship on Bonds," wherein he states, "It's official: Bonds are finished."

Barron's and other financial publications these days seem filled—understandably—with pieces chronicling the dangers of bonds at current prices. Government bonds, so-called investment grade, and high-yield bonds are all being called into question. Investors who have been served well in the last several decades with fixed-income holdings now must decide what to do. They should consider convertible bonds, which let them retain principal protection and current income while giving them the opportunity to participate in stock appreciation.

A typical newly issued convertible bond has only about half the exposure to a rise in interest rates of an otherwise similar traditional bond. Moreover, convertibles are structured to keep maturities relatively short. Historically, convertible bonds have significantly outperformed traditional bonds during periods of rising rates.

Nothing Charitable

To the Editor: The reference in the May 20 Editorial Commentary to "Another Dangerous Subsidy" is in error. Contributions to section 501(c)(4) organizations are not tax deductible as charitable contributions. The real issue with the organizations in question is whether they should have to disclose the identities of their donors to the public. Organizations engaged in legislative activity are not required to do so. Organizations primarily devoted to campaign activity are.

The Congress has decided that the value to the public of knowing who supports candidates outweighs the privacy rights of donors. It has not made the same determination with respect to issue-oriented organizations, nor, in my view, should it.

People should not be required to risk harassment by the many organized interest groups now existing in America in order to support organizations whose views they espouse, and there seems to be no significant public benefit in disclosing these donors that would outweigh the donors' right to privacy. Alan P. Dye Webster, Chamberlain & Bean Washington

Thomas G. Donlan replies: I regret the error about tax status. I disagree with the idea that issue-oriented campaign organizations should be able to give their donors the privilege of secrecy.

Golden Opportunity

To the Editor: In the May 20 Up & Down Wall Street column, "This Time, Gold Bugs May Have a Point," Randall Forsyth mentions suspicious selling in the gold market. Sellers dumped 300 tons of gold on the market in "staccato-like blasts." No legitimate profit-motivated seller dumps gold like this onto the market if they are trying to obtain the best possible price. If you are trying to manipulate the gold price lower, you would dump 300 tons onto the market all at once.

In the same column, a market analyst called the current gold swoon a "correction" in gold's long-term bull market.

This correction, however, is accompanied by many extremes, including: • Record volume in the SPDR Gold Trust and in gold futures on the New York Comex on April 15. • An unprecedented drop in Comex gold inventories in 2013, caused by gold shortages around the world and a gold- and silver-buying panic caused by unnaturally low gold and silver prices. • Unprecedented demand for physical gold in China, India, and other countries. • The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index is the most undervalued in relation to the price of gold ever, and many gold stocks are down 75% or more during the last few months, even though gold fundamentals have never been better. • Commercial traders have their smallest net short position in many years, and the small speculators have their first net short position in gold since the first quarter of 2001, and put buying on the SPDR Gold Trust ETF is at least at a two-year extreme.

Easy money from the Federal Reserve is driving the overall stock market higher, but driving the gold and silver markets lower. What is wrong with this picture? Paul Yusem The Gold and Silver Analyst.com Lombard, Ill.

Letters should be addressed to: Barron's Mailbag, 1025 Connecticut Ave., Washington, D.C. 20036. Fax: (202) 862-6633. E-mail: mail@barrons.com. To be considered for publication, correspondence, including E-mail, must bear the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters are subject to editing.